Back home from one of the more successful performances from a national junior squad in recent memory, The Bahamas’ team at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Under-18 (U18), Under-20 (U20) and Under-23 (U23) Championships is now looking forward to continued progression and improvement.
A 35-member team won 42 total medals at the National Stadium of Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica, over the Independence Day weekend – that in itself speaks wonders.
The team won 17 gold, 18 silver and seven bronze medals. Young javelin thrower Nathaniel Zervos set a new NACAC under-18 boys record, turning in a toss of 67.96 meters (m) – 222’ 11” – in the javelin, breaking Keyshawn Strachan’s mark of 62.70m (205’ 8”) that was set at the 2019 NACAC U18 and U23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico. Strachan himself broke his own junior and senior national records. Competing in the under-23 men’s division, he had a silver-medal winning toss of 72.13m (236’ 8”) to break the record of 71.62m (234’ 11”) he did at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Junior and Senior National Championships at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium three weekends ago. Rhema Otabor was a record breaker, breaking her junior national mark in the girls javelin. She had a winning toss of 55.06m (180’ 7”) for the gold medal, breaking the record of 54.19m (177’ 9”) she turned in at the Hurricane Invitational at Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Florida, earlier this year.
Additionally, The Bahamas had double individual gild medal performances from Wanya McCoy, Tarajh Hudson and Camille Rutherford, double individual medal performances from Acacia Astwood, Carnitra Mackey, Terrence Jones, Charisma Taylor, Shimar Bain, Lacarthea Cooper and Kaden Cartwright, and five relay medals – one gold and four silver.
BAAA President Drumeco Archer said he couldn’t be more pleased with the team’s overall performance.
“Team Bahamas more than exceeded its expectations. Almost every athlete would have come back with a medal and I just want to congratulate all of them for their fantastic performances,” he said. “This is a testament to the kind of program that we continue to produce here in The Bahamas. I believe that the quality of performances speak wonders to the level of competition that there was in Costa Rica. This is a prelude of what’s to come at the world junior championships in Nairobi, Kenya. I’m looking forward to even better performances from our athletes.”
The World Athletics (WA) World Under-20 Championships is set for August 17-22, at the Nyayo Sports Complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Archer said given the performances in Costa Rica, he is confident that the junior athletes will represent the country well at the World U20s.
He gave credit to the coaching staff and medical team in Costa Rica as well.
“Under the guidance of our fantastic coaches, the athletes delivered some our best results of a junior athletics team from The Bahamas in history,” said Archer. “When you look at someone like Corrington Maycock, he has resurrected the throwing program here in The Bahamas, particularly on the junior side. He has been very purposeful in his approach in developing the throwing program, and because of that, we have had some of the best performances that we have had in the history of track and field in the throws. Maybe we could start looking at other areas. The middle distance and distance programs are a work in progress, but genetically, The Bahamas is one of the most talented countries in the world. I truly believe that.”
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